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First Book in the P.I.E.C.E.S series_ Six lives and a load of drama. Tokunbo moves to the great IB city for a fresh start. But somehow she finds herself tangled up in webs of secrets and lies. She knows she isn't supposed to care, but deep within a fragment of herself, she does. Betty, Vicky, Eli and Enoch try to ignore that all is not as it used to be. No one can seem to pull away from their already frail friendship but none can seem to draw closer either. Enter a new kid with issues and a crazy girl hell bent on revenge. Will the crew come out whole or in shards of what they used to be?
CHAPTER ONE
Betty groaned crumpling the poor piece of paper, black mixing irregularly with white. That was the thirteenth sheet gone that day. Once again, she had proved to the forces against her, as well as to herself, that she had no future in poetry.
But it shouldn't be this hard!
Poetry was just 'penning words on paper", "expressing emotions, filling empty blank spaces". It wasn't supposed to be hard. That was what Math and Science were for. Betty let out another groan and threw the whole book to the ground.
"I give up!" she announced to no one in particular.
She agreed with her father now. Either poetry was dumb and useless, or it just wasn't made for her. Betty could bet naira notes that it was the second option.
Yes, that was it!
Poetry wasn't for her. The first option however would imply calling Shakespeare a dummy- but Betty adored him. She had a whole drawer dedicated to him. Calling him a dummy was similar to committing suicide.
She slouched in the armchair staring at all the pieces of paper, frustrated, on the floor. She wanted to know poetry. She needed to if she wanted to apply for the 'All States Writing Contest' coming up in three months.
Like I could still do that.
Her dad had made up his mind. Against her favour. Writing was for lazy ones, it fed no one. He had told her. He'd rather she held the highest sticks in the market. A doctor, a lawyer, a petroleum engineer, The big jobs. However, Betty couldn't help but feel he was wrong. She loved writing. It was a passion. Her passion. What happened to the words she'd heard on TV and watched in movies?
"What happened to following my dreams?" she muttered sadly, tears nearing her eyes as frustration took over.
A moving van cut the brewing tempestuousness inside her short, attracting curious eyes as it drove into the compound. Betty face palmed as she had forgotten the new neighbours would be arriving that day. She rose quickly, ridding the floor of the mess she had created.
"Mom! The neighbours are here! And please come out quickly! Those nasty kids downstairs are at it again." She yelled and soon enough, her mother stumbled out of the house, clad in a wrapper and T-shirt, ready to shun the 'Devil Twins' and their siblings back into their house.
But there was no need for that because all of them reversed slowly when a man stepped down from the car.
"Wow," Betty whispered
"Aye o." her mother exclaimed, placing a hand on her chest as all eyes beheld the commanding figure before them.
Just who were the new neighbours exactly?
A few pairs of legs dropped from the van too. A pregnant woman, a tall kid with braided hair, and a smaller boy.
Betty watched the man take slow strides looking around the compound in scrutiny and noticed his face morph into a sneer when his gaze landed on the nasty kids.
Ha! Take that Devil twins!
But when he looked up, she knew why those kids had flinched in fear and scattered like chickens. The man had a commanding stance, a domineering figure. His eyes were steely. He had a scar near his left eye that spelt 'WICKED'.
"Olorun mi o" Her mother exclaimed again taking a few steps backwards. "Which kind man be this ?" she asked in pidgin English.
The man walked over to his wife assisting her towards the stairs while throwing directions at the movers, his children trailing behind him. They greeted no one. Not even a small nod or a look of acknowledgement. Even after they had disappeared into the confines of their flat, the one next to Betty's, Everyone stood still for a while before dispersing with shrugs and sighs of contempt.
Betty stared on and on from across the side balcony.
***
Tokunbo.
Tokunbo looked around the house; White ceilings, the peach and green walls. She wasn't sure how she felt about them moving. It had been all too soon, all too sudden but it was good. She needed a change of scenery anyways.
And to run away.
She was more than ready to start anew. Not like there were major changes to make, but a girl could try.
"At least I have another chance." She whispered to herself as she toured the rooms, closing her eyes at intervals, trying to ward off unwanted thoughts. Too many things had happened, but there was no way she would allow sour memories to spoil her new beginning. No!
"Get the other things from the van, Tokun. Don't just stand there!"
"Yes papa," she replied dashing away from her father's presence. A smile formed on her face as she remembered the look of horror on the kids' faces earlier. One of them had even whispered 'Commando' before flying away.
"I'd like the pink bag please?" she told one of the movers flashing a smile. The man grunted before reaching into the van and grabbing the bag.
"Gba!" He hurled the bag at her.
She groaned as the heavy load hit her fragile figure. "Hmph!" Either the man was blind or he just ignored the fact that her waistline couldn't be more than twenty inches. She made sure to give him the stink eye and continued as she climbed the stairs only for the bag's strap to get caught with her feet and whoosh!
Her face kissed the floor.
***
Betty cringed as the tall kid smash her face on the last stair.
"That must hurt like a bitch!" she shouted across the balcony. "Are you okay?"
The tall kid jumped up, wincing a bit, but waved in response. "Yeah! I'm fine. I just-I didn't fall"
Betty chuckled.
Right! You didn't.
"You didn't? So what was that?"
"That was...We have a mutual understanding. My face and the floor."
"Wow...That's new. Considering you just arrived like ten minutes ago. The floor must really like you."
The girl laughed, shrugging lightly then bent to pick the bag up.
"I love your bag! Fan of pink?" Betty asked, elated. She was the first to start a conversation with the new neighbours of course she was excited.
The latter snorted in response. "No. Yuck! I hate this colour. Blue for life. This is my mama's."
Betty pouted leaning against the railing "Well now I'm offended. I happen to love that colour".
"Good for you." she shrugged in response but a small smile tugged at her lips.
"I'm Elizabeth."
"Tokunbo."
"Nice! I'm calling you Toks."
Tokunbo adjusted the bag strap and then nodded. "See you."
***
Foreign expressions used-
*Aye o- The world! (An exclamation common to the Yorubas)
*Olorun mi o!- My God
*Gba! - Take/ here you go.
Neal Kowalski is in thorough shit. His life is in danger, his reputation on the line and his company on wobbly stakes. While the people see a shy stuttering billionaire, owner of Kowalski Inc, very few know about the man behind the stutter, his dark past and haunting demons. And Dorothy Lane is determined to find out. As his ex-best friend, Dorothy Lane is assigned as a personal guard to Neal. She ignores the thickening tension between them, determined to prove to the world and her parents, that she is more than just a wild child. She will protect Neal from those who threaten his life even if it meant she would lose hers. But no one told her anything about Protecting Neal from himself. And Dorothy finds this out the hard way.
Madison had always believed that she would marry Colten. She spent her youth admiring him from afar, dreaming of their future life together. But Colten was always indifferent to her, and when he abandoned her at a time when she needed him most, she finally realized that he never loved her. With renewed resolve and a thirst for revenge, Madison left. Endless possibilities lay ahead, but Colten was no longer part of her plans. Colten rushed to her place in a panic. "Madison, please come back to me. I’ll give you everything!" It was his powerful uncle who answered the door. "She's my woman now."
Due to the plight of her family, Phoebe had no choice but to embark on the path of selling herself. In an accident, she had a tangled night with Alexander. Everything began to derail, and even if she fled to the ends of the earth, she would still be found by him and entangled... *** Phoebe screamed in frustration, "What do you want from me?" What was this supposed to be? He raised an eyebrow wickedly. "What do I want? You'll find out soon enough." With that, he hoisted her up and carried her back into the office. The door slammed shut with a kick, and he cleared the desk with a sweep of his arm before laying her down on it, his body pinning hers in place, completely trapping her in his grasp. Every cell in his body was telling him he wanted her. He wanted to claim her again. This time, there would be no escape for her-he wouldn't let her slip away. Never again. If he had suffered for five years, then this woman wouldn't get off easily either!
Everyone was shocked to the bones when the news of Rupert Benton's engagement broke out. It was surprising because the lucky girl was said to be a plain Jane, who grew up in the countryside and had nothing to her name. One evening, she showed up at a banquet, stunning everyone present. "Wow, she's so beautiful!" All the men drooled, and the women got so jealous. What they didn't know was that this so-called country girl was actually an heiress to a billion-dollar empire. It wasn't long before her secrets came to light one after the other. The elites couldn't stop talking about her. "Holy smokes! So, her father is the richest man in the world?" "She's also that excellent, but mysterious designer who many people adore! Who would have guessed?" Nonetheless, people thought that Rupert didn't love her. But they were in for another surprise. Rupert released a statement, silencing all the naysayers. "I'm very much in love with my beautiful fiancee. We will be getting married soon." Two questions were on everyone's minds: "Why did she hide her identity? And why was Rupert in love with her all of a sudden?"
"You're a creepy bastard." His eyes smolder me and his answering grin is nothing short of beautiful. Deadly. "Yet you hunger for me. Tell me, this appetite of yours, does it always tend toward 'creepy bastards'?" **** Widower and ex-boss to the Mafia, Zefiro Della Rocca, has an unhealthy fixation on the woman nextdoor. It began as a coincidence, growing into mere curiosity, and soon, it was an itch he couldn't ignore, like a quick fix of crack for an addict. He didn't know her name, but he knew every inch of her skin, how it flushed when she climaxed, her favourite novel and that every night she contemplated suicide. He didn't want to care, despising his rapt fascination of the woman. She was in love with her abusive husband. She was married, bound by a contract to the Bratva's hitman. She was off-limits. But when Zefiro wanted something, it was with an intensity that bordered on madness. He obsessed, possessed, owned. There'd be bloodshed if he touched her, but the sight of blood always did fascinate him. * When Susanna flees from her husband, she stumbles right into the arms of her devilishly handsome neighbour with a brooding glare. He couldn't stand her, but she needed him, if she was ever going to escape her husband who now wanted her dead. Better the devil you know than the angel you don't. She should have recalled that before hopping into Zefiro's car and letting him whisk her away to Italy. Maybe then, she wouldn't have started an affair with him. He was the only man who touched her right, and the crazy man took no small pains in ensuring he would be the last.
Drugged and deceived, she bore a child amidst tragedy-her son, falsely declared dead at birth. Fueled by the agony, she disappeared, only to return years later with both her daughter and an adopted son, driven by an unyielding desire for revenge against those who had wronged her and her late mother. The plot takes an unexpected twist when the haunting truth surfaces: her son is alive, and his father is a powerful CEO.
Allison fell in love with Ethan Iversen, the soon-to-be Alpha of the Moonlight Crown pack. She always wanted him to notice her. Meanwhile, Ethan was an arrogant Alpha who thought a weak Omega could not be his companion. Ethan's cousin, Ryan Iversen, who came back from abroad and was the actual heir of the pack, never tried to get the position nor did he show any interest in it. He was a popular playboy Alpha but when he came back to the pack, one thing captured his eyes and that was Allison.